Why were Afghanis who wanted to leave still there at the end?

[Broomstick]

@Dinsdale

Well, when is the last time things in Afgh were hunky dory? Was it under the Soviets? Under the Taliban after?

Early 1970’s. Half a century ago.

@Dinsdale

How long (and lengthy ;)) is this process to go ANYWHERE (not just US)?

Varies by country, of course, but at a minimum months and quite plausibly years, especially over the past year and a half due to covid travel restrictions.

[Dinsdale]

OK - so they had 50 years to complete the paperwork.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Dinsdale

I agree that it is a challenging issue of how to assist individuals who live in - um - challenging countries. Before we lay too much responsibility on Trump’s doorstep, he was only in charge for 4 yrs. Prior to that, we had 8 yrs of Obama and 6-7 of W in which we coulda helped Afghans escape. How available was immigration to the US - or elsewhere - during that time?

Of course, the US has never had any sensible immigration policy, and has generally been reluctant to welcome refugees.

Many of these people weren’t just refugees; they had worked for and with the US military as translators and, as I understand, had been promised that they’d get visas to come to the US.

[Telemark]

@Dinsdale

OK - so they had 50 years to complete the paperwork.

Paperwork that isn’t accepted doesn’t get you anywhere.